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Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach: Saturday’s Five Cars to Watch

This 2015 Corvette Z06 coupe caught everyone’s attention, but no one was more interested than Rick Hendrick. (Photo: Carey Spencer / Best Digital Shots)

After a great opening day at the 12th annual Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Collector Car Auction, it’s time for Super Saturday, when the quality of the cars goes way up and with it the prices.

The action begins at noon ET and runs all the way until 8 p.m., with live television coverage on the National Geographic channel the entire time.

Here are Saturday’s Five To Watch cars from Palm Beach:

LOT 3004, 2015 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06

NASCAR team owner and mega-Chevrolet dealer Rick Hendrick likes firsts. Last year at two different Barrett-Jackson auctions, he ponied up $1 million each for the first production 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray coupe and convertible. This afternoon at about 5 p.m., the first production 2015 Corvette Z06 coupe will sell, with all the proceeds benefitting the Karmanos Cancer Institute, one of Chevrolet’s favorite charities. It would be a shock if anyone other than Hendrick buys this car.

UPDATE: As expected, Hendrick bought this car, and as expected, it cost him $1 million.

When you combine a great car and a great charity cause at Barrett-Jackson, magic happens. Today at about 4 p.m., this totally tricked-up 2013 Ford Mustang from the movie “Need For Speed” will be sold, with the entire sale price to be donated to the Henry Ford Health System. This wide-body Mustang has a great look to it, with Kona Blue Shelby-style stripes over silver paint. It has been thoroughly gone through, with a host of performance and appearance upgrades.

The Ford GT is an anomaly in that it is virtually the only American car built in the last 30 years that has consistently appreciated since new. Just 4,038 GTs were built from 2004-06, with the original MSRP starting at $139,995. Now, less than a decade later, they routinely trade for nearly double that. A lot of eyes will be on this car, which has less than 1,000 miles on it.

UPDATE: With a hammer price of $220,000, this was actually very well bought.

LOT 442, 1970 OLDSMOBILE 442

This Oldsmobile 442 is a true beauty. (Photo: Tom Jensen)

Last year at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach, Thornton Muscle Cars of Quakertown, Pa., sold one of their restored 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertibles for $132,000. This year, they have brought another drop-dead gorgeous restored ’70 442, this one in the rare color combination of burgundy mist over a white interior and white top.

UPDATE: Another relative bargain, this nicely done Olds crossed the block at $105,000.

Radical customs are almost always a crapshoot: If the right two bidders are in the house, prices can soar through the roof. If not, the bidding can fall short. That said, this custom Ford pickup is a fantastic effort, absolutely stellar in every respect. Clearly this is one of the top customs in the show.

UPDATE: This beautiful truck brought a hammer price of $95,000, which seemed like a fair deal for all involved.​

After a great opening day at the 12th annual Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Collector Car Auction, it’s time for Super Saturday, when the quality of the cars goes way up and with it the prices.

The action begins at noon ET and runs all the way until 8 p.m., with live television coverage on the National Geographic channel the entire time.